Rhône Relearned, Part 1

The Rhône Valley offers some beautiful bottles, and generally I am always keen to explore wines from this area. In particular, the enigmatic whites are so appealing when done well… though deeply disappointing when not (especially when the price point is taken into consideration… most Rhônes don’t come cheap here on the west coast of Vancouver Island). At its best, the Rhône offers rich, smoky reds, blended from Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre (actually referred to as GSM’s by the cool kids) and a host of other smaller players. The Rhône is also home to the Tavel and Lirac regions, where the world’s best rosés are created.

I’ve always meant to memorize the thirteen grapes allowed in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region. In case this may possibly be of interest to you as well, here they are: Cinsaut, Counoise, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Muscardin, Piquepoul, Syrah, Terret Noir, Vaccarèse (Brun Argenté), Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picardan, and Roussanne. Exam is on Tuesday. The other piece of essential information about C-du-P is that in 1954 they outlawed flying saucers from flying above, landing in, or taking off from the area. Thank goodness the grapes are so well protected!

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[…] stones, or galets (see the cover photo). The 13 allowable grapes were listed in my earlier post, here. The Beaucastel house remains the only one to persist with all 13 grapes in its blend. Only […]